Storage system

ABSTRACT

A storage system is provided especially for planar items, and in particular for optical discs. The system includes a number of sleeves for receiving the items, eg CDs, VCDs, DVDs, and each sleeve is formed with a T-shaped projecting member that is used to allow the sleeves to be removably attached to a receiving member. The receiving member may be provided within a case, or box like container for the discs, or the receiving member may be provided without any such container.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a storage system, and in particularthough not exclusively to a system for the storage of generally planaritems such as optical discs and the like, and in particular to amechanism for retaining in place optical disc holding sleeves within anoptical disc container. The invention further relates to an optical discholding container provided with such a retaining mechanism

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Optical discs, such as audio compact discs (CDs), video compactdiscs (VCDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs) and CD-ROMs have achievedwidespread popularity in both professional and business environments,and also for domestic uses. Audio CDs are now the preferred form ofrecording for music, while VCDs and DVDs are becoming increasinglypopular for video recordings. Furthermore DVDs and CD-ROMs are now veryfrequently used for software and computer-readable data in view of theirhigh data storage capacity and their high reliability.

[0003] Some problems remain, however, with the storage of optical discs.While optical discs are fairly robust, they can be damaged and need tobe protected when not in use. Conventionally optical discs are sold witheach optical disc being received within a single plastics case (oftencalled a “jewel case”). Such cases are effective to protect the discs,but they are usually several times thicker than the disc itself and thuswhen a number of discs and associated jewel cases are involved, theystart to take up a significant amount of space. This can be a problem,for example, when storing discs on a shelf, or indeed when it is desiredto carry a number of discs when travelling.

[0004] In view of these difficulties a number of alternative storagearrangements have been proposed. Often such arrangements involve the useof plastic sleeves for receiving the discs, with the sleeves then beingretained within some form of outer housing. For example, one well-knownsystem is arranged in the manner of a book or album, with “pages”bearing plastic sleeves for receiving the discs all held within arelatively hard outer cover. In this way such a system is similar to aphotograph album. This type of system is quite effective for holding alarge number of discs, but if one is only concerned with holding asmaller number of discs, then such “albums” are too large and wouldinvolve too much wasted space. Furthermore such “albums” are not veryflexible in terms of the number of discs that they can store, which isusually fixed by the number of pages and the number of discs per page.

[0005] Another known storage mechanism includes individual plasticssleeves for holding one or two discs and which can be removeablyinserted into an outer casing or receptacle. One such known designincludes square sleeves adapted to hold two discs separated by an innersheet. One edge of the sleeve is formed with a relatively wide plasticsedging in which is formed two L-shaped cut-out portions for engaging areceiving mechanism formed on the “spine” of the outer casing which isformed in the manner of the front and back covers of a book. The discreceiving sleeves are therefore similar to pages of a book that can beremoved and replaced.

PRIOR ART

[0006] Other examples of known storage systems are to be found inEP0949628A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,575, U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,953, U.S. Pat.No. 4,327,831 and FR2744555.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,953, for example, discloses a system forstorage of CDs and the like while they are still received within theirjewel cases. In this example each jewel case is received within a holderelement that in turn is attached via a pivot journal to a profiledsection. Such a system does allow a number of CD jewel cases to bestored, and allows the jewel cases to be easily inspected so that a usercan identify a desired disc. However, since the discs are retainedwithin the jewel cases, and the holder elements are inevitably widerthan the jewel cases, this system certainly does not help with the spaceproblems encountered when storing large numbers of discs. Indeed asystem of this type would aggravate the space problems. FR2744555Adescribes a similar system except that in this document the holderelements are formed with elongate projections of a circularcross-section and which may be received within corresponding circulargrooves spaced at regular angular intervals around a column. Again whilethis system allows CD jewel cases to be stored and easily inspected, itcertainly does not solve any space-related storage problems.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,831 is an older system designed in particularfor storing gramophone discs where it is essential to ensure that theplaying surface of the disc avoids contact with any surface of thestorage means so as to prevent damage. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,831 arelatively container structure is described that can hold a gramophonerecord without the playing surface contacting the container. Thecontainer is formed with a protruding portion that extends for the fullwidth of the container, and the protruding portion can be received by amale-female connector that allow a number of such containers to beassembled in a “book-like” manner.

[0009] None of the prior art proposals is entirely without drawbacks ofone form or another, and thus it is an object of the present inventionto provide another solution to the problem of providing space-efficient,simple and reliable storage of optical discs that mitigates the problemswith the prior art, or which at least provides a useful alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] According to the present invention there is provided a storagesystem, comprising a plurality of holding means for holding items to bestored, each said holding means being provided with a T-shaped memberprojecting therefrom, and a receiving member for receiving said T-shapedmembers of said holding means.

[0011] In one embodiment the system may further comprise a container forhousing the items being stored and the receiving member may be providedwithin the container. Alternatively, however, the receiving member maybe provided without any associated container, for example as part of acomputer desk or other item of furniture.

[0012] Where a container is provided for housing the items, it may beformed of upper and lower halves, with the receiving member beingprovided in the lower half.

[0013] In preferred embodiments of the invention, the items to be storedare generally planar items such as optical discs, documents, photographsor the like, and the holding means may then comprise a sleeve.

[0014] Preferably such sleeves are generally circular and the T-shapedmember is attached to a respective sleeve at a circumferential portionof the sleeve.

[0015] Preferably the T-shaped member comprises a neck portion extendingradially from the sleeve, and a head portion that is parallel to a linetangent to the circumference of the sleeve. More preferably still theT-shaped member further comprises an arcuate portion having a radius ofcurvature approximately the same as the radius of the sleeve. The sleevemay be formed of two sheets of plastics material bonded together forapproximately half their circumference, and unbonded together for theremainder of their circumference, and the T-shaped member may be fixedto the sleeve at a junction between the bonded and unbonded parts of thecircumference.

[0016] In a preferred arrangement the receiving member includes avertical aperture for receiving said T-shaped member, and the aperturehas a width that is less than the width of a head portion of theT-shaped member.

[0017] Preferably the disc container is generally circular in plan,though other shapes are also possible.

[0018] The invention also extends to a sleeve for holding an opticaldisc, wherein said sleeve comprises a T-shaped member projectingtherefrom, and wherein said T-shaped member is adapted to be receivedwithin a receiving member for storage of the optical disc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way ofexample and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

[0020]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sleeve for holding an optical disc butwith the T-shaped attachment member removed for the sake of clarity,

[0021]FIG. 2 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1 but including theattachment member,

[0022]FIG. 3 is a plan view of the T-shaped attachment member,

[0023] FIGS. 4(a) and (b) are front and side views of a sleeve receivingmember, and

[0024]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Referring firstly to FIG. 1, there is shown a plastics sleeve 1for holding at least one optical disc. The sleeve 1 is formed of twocircular sheets of plastics material each slightly larger than anoptical disc. The sheets are bonded together around their circumferencefor approximately 180° but are left unbonded for the remaining 180° sothat a disc can be inserted into and removed from the sleeve. It will beunderstood that the circumferential extent that is not bonded needs tobe large enough that a disc can be inserted into the sleeve and removedtherefrom, but not so large that a disc would be likely tounintentionally fall out of the sleeve.

[0026] In FIGS. 1 and 2 the left side 2 of the sleeve as viewed in theFigures is bonded together, while the right side 3 is left unbonded.While in this embodiment the sleeve is circular, that is not essentialand the sleeve could for example be square or any other convenientshape.

[0027] Preferably the sleeve is adapted to hold two discs. This can beachieved by bonding between the two outer plastics sheet a dividingsheet made of a suitably soft but strong material. The two outerplastics sheets are preferably both transparent so that the discs withincan be seen. If the sleeve is designed to hold only one disc, then ofcourse only one of the plastics sheets needs to be transparent. Anaperture 4 may be provided in each plastics sheet I such that a user cancontact a disc located therein to assist in removal of the disc from thesleeve.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, at the 12 o'clock position where the bondedand unbonded sides of the sleeve meet, the sleeve 1 is formed with asmall projection 5 the function of which will be seen from the followingdescription of FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIG. 3 there is shown a T-shapedattachment member 6 which is in the form of a generally planar piece ofplastics material. Compared to the sleeves, however, this attachmentmember 6 is formed of a somewhat stiffer and slightly more rigidplastics material. In particular attachment member 6 is formed with anarcuate portion 7, and a T-shaped portion formed of neck portion 8 andhead portion 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the attachment member 6 is bonded toone side of the sleeve 1 at the 12 o'clock position. The arcuate portion7 is generally of the same radius of curvature as the radius of thesleeve so that the attachment member 6 fits smoothly to the curve of thesleeve. The projecting portion 5 of the sleeve is positioned underneathat least a part of the neck portion 8 to provide a degree ofreinforcement thereof, though this is not essential. Thus, as shown inFIG. 2, the T formed by the neck and head portions 8, 9 extends at rightangles from a tangent formed at the 12 o'clock position where the bondedand unbonded halves of the sleeve circumference meet. It will also beunderstood that T-shaped portion lies in the same plane as the sleeve.

[0029] The function of the attachment member 6 is to allow the sleeve 1to be releasably attached to a receiving member 10 which in turn may befitted within a larger CD container. An example of a receiving member 10is shown in front and side views in FIGS. 4(a) and (b). The receivingmember 10 is molded from a strong plastics material and is formed as aninverted T-shaped member with a vertical portion 11 projecting upwardlyfrom a horizontal base portion 12. Vertical portion 11 is further formedwith a vertical aperture 13, and as shown in particular in FIG. 4(b) thetop of the vertical portion 11 is bent towards the horizontal.

[0030] The horizontal base portion 12 of the receiving member 10 isdesigned to allow the receiving member 10 to be fixed to the interior ofa case, box or other like receptacle for receiving a number of sleeveseach housing one or more discs. To this end the base portion 12 may beformed with two fixing holes 14 by means of which the receiving member10 may be secured in place by any suitable manner.

[0031] The vertical aperture 13 formed in the vertical portion 11 of thereceiving member 10 has a width that is less than that of the headportion 9 of the T-shaped attachment member 6. It will thus beunderstood that the receiving member 10 is able to receive andreleasably hold a number of sleeves 1. A sleeve 1 may simply be attachedto the receiving member 10 by turning the sleeve on its side so that thehead 9 of the attachment member 6 may pass though the vertical aperture13. The sleeve 1 is then turned back to a horizontal position so thatthe head 9 of the T-shaped attachment member is securely held in placewith the neck portion 8 extending through the vertical aperture 13, andwith the head portion 9 held on the other side of the vertical portion11 from the sleeve 1. The sleeve can, of course, easily be removed bysimply reversing this sequence. Furthermore, because the verticalportion 11 bends over towards the horizontal at its free upper end,sleeves 1 cannot become accidentally detached from the receiving member10.

[0032] As mentioned above, the receiving member 10 is adapted to befixed to the interior of a case, box or the like that is to house thediscs. Although the invention is by no means limited to thispossibility, one preferred possibility, shown in FIG. 5, is that thecase or the like could be a generally circular box formed of two rigidhalves 15, 16 hinged together by a hinge 17 and each half having adiameter just slightly greater than the sleeves 1. The receiving member10 could then be secured to an interior side wall of the lower of thetwo box halves forming the case and adjacent the hinge connection of thetwo halves.

[0033] Another possibility, however, is that the receiving member couldbe formed independently of any case, box or the like. For example thereceiving member could simply be provided in its own right as part of astorage system. For example, the receiving member could be formed as anintegral part of a desk for storing computer discs, or could be formedas part of a furniture unit, hi-fi unit, television unit or the like forstoring audio CDs, VCDs or DVDs. In such a situation, the receivingmember may be comparatively longer than in the example described abovein which the receiving member must be located within a case. Indeed itis a particular advantage of the present invention that the same storagesystem can be used for storing optical discs in a semi-permanent orfixed manner in a home or office in situations where a case or box forhousing the discs is not necessary, and at the same time can be used tostore discs in a protective case or box, for example when travelling. Bymeans of the common T-shaped projection and receiving member storagesystem, a sleeve holding one or more discs can easily be interchangedfrom a semi-permanent home or office storage system which may notrequire a case or box, to a storage system incorporated within such acase or box for travelling purposes.

[0034] The sleeve(s), T-shaped portion, and receiving member may ofcourse be made of any suitable materials, and in many cases this wouldbe a plastics material. However, where the receiving member is to beformed as part of, for example, an item of furniture as discussed aboveand thus where the receiving member may be more visible, it may be madeof a higher quality and more aesthetically pleasing material such aswood or metal.

[0035] It will also be understood that while the invention isparticularly suitable for the storage of optical discs and the like, itcould also be used for the storage of other items, such as documents,photographs, and credit cards. In general terms the system could inparticular be used to store any form of generally planar item. However,it is also possible that the invention could be used to store non-planaritems provided that they could be received within a sleeve, of that thesleeve were replaced by a different form of holding means adapted tohold that particular type of item but still provided with the T-shapedmember.

1. A storage system, comprising a plurality of holding means for holdingitems to be stored, each said holding means being provided with aT-shaped member projecting therefrom, and a receiving member forreceiving said T-shaped members of said holding means.
 2. A storagesystem as claimed in claim 1 wherein said system further comprises acontainer for housing said items, and wherein said receiving member isprovided within said container.
 3. A system as claimed in claim 2wherein said container is formed of upper and lower halves, wherein thereceiving member is located within the lower half of said container. 4.A storage system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein said itemsto be stored are generally planar and said holding means comprise aplurality of sleeves.
 5. A system as claimed in claim 4 wherein saidsleeves are generally circular and said T-shaped member is attached to arespective sleeve at a circumferential portion of said sleeve.
 6. Asystem as claimed in claim 5 wherein said T-shaped member comprises aneck portion extending radially from said sleeve, and a head portionthat is parallel to a line tangent to the circumference of said sleeve.7. A system as claimed in claim 6 wherein said T-shaped furthercomprises an arcuate portion having a radius of curvature approximatelythe same as the radius of the sleeve.
 8. A system as claimed in any ofclaims 5 to 7 wherein said sleeve comprises two sheets of plasticsmaterial bonded together for approximately half their circumference, andunbonded together for the remainder of their circumference, and whereinsaid T-shaped member is fixed to said sleeve at a junction between saidbonded and unbonded parts of said circumference.
 9. A system as claimedin any preceding claim wherein said receiving member includes a verticalaperture for receiving said T-shaped member.
 10. A system as claimed inclaim 9 wherein said aperture has a width that is less than the width ofa head portion of the T-shaped member.
 11. A sleeve for holding anoptical disc, wherein said sleeve comprises a T-shaped member projectingtherefrom, and wherein said T-shaped member is adapted to be receivedwithin a receiving member for storage of said optical disc.
 12. A sleeveas claimed in claim 11 wherein said sleeve is generally circular andsaid T-shaped member is attached to said respective sleeve at acircumferential portion of said sleeve.
 13. A sleeve as claimed in claim12 wherein said T-shaped member comprises a neck portion extendingradially from said sleeve, and a head portion that is parallel to a linetangent to the circumference of said sleeve.
 14. A sleeve as claimed inclaim 13 wherein said T-shaped further comprises an arcuate portionhaving a radius of curvature approximately the same as the radius of thesleeve.
 15. A sleeve as claimed in any of claims 12 to 14 wherein saidsleeve comprises two sheets of plastics material bonded together forapproximately half their circumference, and unbonded together for theremainder of their circumference, and wherein said T-shaped member isfixed to said sleeve at a junction between said bonded and unbondedparts of said circumference.